MVL outlasts Cathedral

NEW ULM -- The decision went to Minnesota Valley Lutheran Chargers in five games, but they probably won late in Game Four.

In a typically hard fought MVL-New Ulm Cathedral contest, the Chargers outlasted the Greyhounds 16-25, 25-19, 23-25, 26-24, 15-7 Tuesday night.

"Cathedral played much better than we did," MVL coach Julie Detjen said. "We can't do this this time of year. It's a good thing we turned it up the last game. Cathedral did a nice job at the net. We made a lot of mental and physical mistakes."

But for NUC coach Karan Whitmyer, "the killer for us was game four at 24-24 and we had a miscommunication. It was probably the best we've played all season. Defensively, we played very well. I'm not sure we could play much better. I thought the girls rose to the occasion and answered the bell."

Game One was impressive for the Greyhounds as they played tremendous defense, especially around the net with blocked kill shots and digs. NUC rattled off six straight points after a 5-5 tie, with Angela Long helping with four kills in that stretch. The Chargers were able to cut the lead to 13-10 after an ace by Andrea Ring, but between unforced errors and the Greyhounds defense frustrating kill attempts, MVL ended up on the short end of the 25-16 score.

The start of game two looked to be going NUC's way in the early stages, with the Greyhounds taking an early 6-3 lead, but MVL soon turned the tables with a four point margin at 11-7. After the Chargers hit the ball in the net, NUC's Kirsten Prunty went behind the service line and delivered three straight aces using a jump serve style to tie the game at 11-11.

The teams traded leads until it was 18-18 and then the Chargers took command. Nicki Flygare and Eva Voss each had a kill block and a kill and with a Briana Czer kill in the middle and an out-of-bounds hit by the Greyhounds, the match was tied at a game each.

Next came the Greyhounds ace game, with the Chargers unable to handle six of NUC's serves. Before the Greyhounds opened up a commanding 20-10 lead, Prunty, Chelsey Beranek and Catherine Miheve each had two aces. But the Chargers weren't finished.

MVL fought back, outscoring the Greyhounds 13-4, and after an ace by Stephanie Reagles, the Chargers were down 23-22. A ball into the net ended the MVL comeback, though, and NUC was again up by a game.

Game Four saw twelve ties, with neither team taking more than a three point lead at any time. Toni Hall and Miheve were particularly strong, with Miheve at one point with three kills in a row and Hall with two kill blocks back-to-back.

But the Chargers responded with a tough game from Flygare, Czer and Karissa Kramer. "The killer," as Whitmyer called it, came with a 24-24 tie.

The Chargers served and the Greyhounds hit it out of bounds after their communication problem. Kramer then put the exclamation point on the game with an ace to tie the match at 2-2.

Game five was all MVL as they ran off to a 8-1 lead that included three more Kramer aces that clearly put the Greyhounds behind the eight ball. NUC never put a run together, with the 15-7 final raising MVL's record to 9-6 overall, 5-3 in the Tomahawk Conference and dropping the Greyhounds to 10-9, 3-5.

Ring led the Chargers with 26 set assists, with Angie Ristow adding 18 set assists. Flygare had 14 kills and six digs, with Voss adding 13 kills and four blocks. Czer had eight kills, with Kramer finishing with seven kills, five digs and five aces.

For the Greyhounds, Miheve had 10 kills and four blocks, with Becky Hosna adding seven kills. Hall had four blocks, while Erin Schugel had 18 set assists and Beranek adding ten set assists and three aces. Prunty ended with five aces.

MVL travels to play Sleepy Eye St. Mary's on Thursday night at 7:30, while Cathedral hosts Cleveland next Monday night, also at 7:30